Concept by Ken Fairclough

Got a new tablet to doodle on. Results below:

Seems I've ignored my advice from the last post. Haven't made any adjustments on the face yet... Roughing in the armor here and gradually replacing it.

wip.
notes:

Need to stretch her out a bit.
Closer to 7.5/8 heads.
Define Legs/arms more.
Stronger jawline.

Almost done.

 The low level base model that we created.

 Window->Rendering Editors->Mental Ray-Approximation Editor->Create Subdivison
There are a few settings to play with, If using Parametric, Match the N subdivisions to the number of divisions we sculpted to. The lower the number, the quicker the render, the less resolution you end up with. When using Spacial, length needs to be adjusted until the proper results are rendered.

 This displacement was baked for major forms only, there is no high resolution detail here. Notice the silhouette change. The color balance of the displacement file node needs to be adjusted. Specifically, Alpha Gain and Alpha Offset. You are adjusting the max and min displacement of the mesh with these values. Typical result of Alpha Offset = -Alpha Gain/2 ....... I.E. Alpha gain .1, Alpha Offset -.05

 We capture the high res using a normal or a bump map, and apply that on top of the displacement. This yields a quicker render time when the object does not need to be viewed closely

This is a pure Displacement map, It takes longer to render because the mesh needs to be subdivided a greater number of times to capture the bump detail from the last slide. The end result is comparable. This is sometimes needed for close ups as it is actually displacing the high res detail rather than faking it like the last slide.

WIP. Trying something new this week, aka not rushing myself to some state of completion that lacks polish.

"The body that was mine for all these years is no longer, but I carry its history and experiences inside. "

“Here is a story to believe,” she said. “Once we were blobs in the sea, and then fishes, and then lizards and rats, and then monkeys, and hundreds of things in between. This hand was once a fin, this hand once had claws! In my human mouth I have the pointy teeth of a wolf and the chisel teeth of a rabbit and the grinding teeth of a cow! Our blood is as salty as the sea we used to live in! When we’re frightened, the hair on our skins stands up, just like when we had fur. We are history! Everything we’ve ever been on the way to becoming us, we still are…I’m made up of the memories of my parents and grandparents, all my ancestors. They’re in the way I look, in the color of my hair. And I’m made up of everyone I’ve ever met who’s chanced the way I think. So who is ‘me’?”

“The piece that just told us that story,” said the hiver. “The piece that’s truly you.”

“Well…yes. But you must have that too. You know you say you’re ‘us’—who is saying that? Who is saying you’re not you? You’re not different from us, we’re just much better at forgetting. And we know when not to listen to the monkey.”

“You just puzzled us,” said the hiver.

“The old bit of our brains that wants to be head monkey, and attacks when its surprised,” said Tiffany. “It reacts. It doesn’t think. Being human is know when not to be the monkey or the lizard or any of those other old echoes. But when you take people over, you silence the human part. You listen to the monkey. The monkey doesn’t know what it needs, only what it wants.”

-Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky, p. 240-241